Machine for turning the heel covers of platform shoes



st. 5, 1954 v. P. ROMEO MACHINE FOR TURNING THE HEEL COVERS 0F PLATFORM SHOES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 28, 1952 @ch 5, 1954 v. P. ROMEO 2,690,573

MACHINE FOR TURNING THE HEEL COVERS 0F PLATFORM SHOES Inventor Vince/2L PIQOmQO Patented Oct. 5, 1954 UNITED WT NT "FFICE MACHINE FOR TURNING THE HEEL COVERS F PLATFORM SHOES Application June 28, 1952, Serial No. 296,210

2 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for turning the heel covers of platform shoes, and it is herein disclosed as embodied in certain improvements in a heel cover turning machine of the type illustrated and described in an application for United States Letters Patent Ser. No. 295,691, filed June 26, 1952, in the name of Benjamin F. Parrelli, which application contains claims generic to the present invention. In using the Parrelli machine and also the machine disclosed herein the shoe is supported oh the last in such a manner that it can be flexed to relieve tension in the heel cover as the latter is being turned over the heel end of the shoe. Such fiexure of the shoe is rendered possible by reason of the fact that the relatively stiff wood heel is spotted to the platform over a restricted area adjacent to the heel end of the shoe, leaving the remainder of the shoe bottom free to flex.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple machine of the type under consideration. In accordance with a feature of the in vention the machine illustrated herein is provided with a rest for the tread surface of a wedge heel and means engageable with the thin forward edge of the wedge heel to hold the wedge heel against forces tending to displace it. While the wedge heel is thus supported, the shoe bottom can be flexed and held flexed to enable the heel cover to be turned without undue strain.

As shown herein the heel support comprises a non-skid rest for the tread surface of the wedge heel and a hook engageable with the thin forward edge of the wedge heel to hold the wedge heel against forces tending to tilt it heightwise during manipulation of the shoe.

These and other novel features of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and hereinafter described and claimed.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an illustrative machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view to an enlarged scale of an improved heel rest with which the machine is provided;

Fig 3 is a side elevation showing a shoe supported on the improved heel rest and cover turning instrumentalities about to begin their operation; and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the shoe and the various instrumentalities at the completion of the operation.

The present invention is disclosed herein with reference to an illustrative shoe (best shown in Fig. 3) consisting of an upper U, a heel cover C,

a forepart platform cover C, a sock lining S, a platform P of cork composition or other flexible material, and a wedge heel H of wood or other relatively rigid material. The upper U and also the covers C and C are joined by stitching to the margin of the sock lining S, and the platform P is cemented to the sock lining. In the illustrative shoe shown herein, it so happens that the upper U does not extend all the Way around the toe and heel ends; it should be understood, however, that the invention applies equally well'with reference to shoes having closed toes and heels. Formed around the entire periphery of the platform P is a rabbet R into which the seam oi the covers '0 and C, and also of the upper U, with the sock lining S can extend when the platform covers have been turned. The forepart cover C is shown as already having been turned, eithermanually or by the aid of any simple device. The heel H is cemented or spotted to the platform P only over a restricted area adjacent to the heel end of the platform, leaving the remainder of the platform and the sock lining, which together constitute the shoe bottom, free to hex.

The machine illustrated herein for turning the heel cover C has a support, indicated generally by the reference numeral it, for the wedge heel and it has also a pair of gripper jaws i2 and hi and mechanism for operating the gripper jaws to turn the heel cover. These parts are all mounted on a frame It adapted to rest upon the floor.

The support It] comprises a circular plate is in the form of an inverted frustum of a cone, which serves as a rest for the tread surface of the heel H and which has upstanding from its work engaging surface three sticker points upon which the heel is impaled to prevent its skidding during manipulation of the shoe. Rigidly secured to the heel rest it and depending there from is a stem 22 which is held by a set screw 2:1 in a socket formed in the upper end of a supporting rod 26. Formed in a forwardly extending portion 28 of the frame 16 is a vertical socket which the supporting rod 26 is secured by a set screw 30. Rigidly secured to the stem mbetween the heel rest is and the upper end of the rod 2-; is a horizontal bar 32 on which is slidably mounted a block 34 having a groove which engages the bar, the block being slidable along the bar for purposes of adjustment. Threaded into the block 34 and extending through a longitudinal slot 36 in the bar 32 is a clamping screw 38 which can be tightened by a hand wheel 40 to secure the block in any desired position of adjustment along 3 the bar 32. 34 is beveled to form an inclined face upon which is secured, by screws 42, a plate 44 which extends above and overlies the forward portion of the upper surface of the block. The plate :34 thus constitutes an upwardly and rearwardly turned lip adapted to hook over the thin forward edge of the heel H to hold the heel against forces tending to tilt it heightwise during operation upon the shoe. The bar 32 terminates in a right-hand beveled face (l6 inclined similarly to the righthand face of the block 34.

The gripper jaw 14 is formed on the upper end of a rod 53 which extends down in telescoping relation within a tubular rod 59. The gripper jaw 12 is fulcrumed upon a pin 52 (Fig. 3) secured in a portion of the rod 38 which lies between the upper end of the rod 59 and the jaw M. The jaw I2 has an extension 54 below the fulcrum 52, said extension having formed in it an inclined slot 56 in sliding engagement with a pin 58 carried by a pair of ears 69 which constitute the upper end portion of the tubular rod 59. Formed in the rod ts is a longitudinal slot 62 which also engages the pin 58. The lower end of the tubular rod 50 is pivotally connected by a pin 64 (Fig. 1) to a treadle 68 fulcrumed upon a pin 68 mounted in the machine frame Hi. The treadle G6 is normally held up against a heightwise adjustable stop 89 by a tension spring E0. The lower portion of the rod it is slabbed off to provide a pair of flat surfaces 12 for engagement with a pair of friction braking elements carried by a block 16. The block 76 is supported by a pair of parallel links 82, the lower ends of which are pivotally connected to the end portions of the block 16 and the upper ends of which are hung for free swinging movement upon a pin 84 secured in the machine frame 15. The lower portion of the tubular rod 50 is slotted as indicated by the reference numeral 86 to provide access of the brake elements to the rod 48. It is evident that depression of the treadle 66 will exert a downward thrust through the tubular rod 59 upon the pin 58 and that said pin will thereupon exert a camming action upon the edge of slot 56 tending to close the upper gripper jaw i2. Downward movement of the rod :28 is yieldingly resisted by the frictional braking action of the brake elements. While the gripper jaws l2 and M are still open, the operator bends the heel end of the cover C and inserts it between the jaws; then depression of the treadle first closes the jaw l2 and further depression pulls down both jaws in gripping engagement with the work. The friction of the brake elements determines the force with which the jaws I2 and. i l grip the work. The gripping mechanism above described is like that disclosed in said application of Parrelli and is of the same general type as that disclosed in United States LettersPatent No. 1,722,502 and No. 2,201,866, granted July 30, 1929 and May 21, 1940 respectively, both in the name of Robert H. Lawson.

In view of the inclination or rake of the heelward end of the heel H, it is desirable to guide the closed gripper jaws l2 and M in a path corresponding to this inclination. Accordingly the machine is provided with a cam 90 secured for The right-hand end of the block 4 heightwise adjustment on the frame I6 and engageable with an L-shaped member 92 which is pivotally mounted on the pin 52 and has a depending arm 94 hearing against the outside of the tubular rod 50. A similar cam is disclosed in the Parrelli application above referred to.

In using the machine the operator, holding the shoe upright, inserts the thin forward edge of the wood heel H under the upper edge of the plate 44 and impales the tread surface of the heel on the sticker points 20. A preliminary adjustment of the block 34 along the bar 32 should be made if necessary to enable the heel to be positioned as shown in Fig. 3. The operator then bends over the heel end of the margin of the heel cover C, inserts it between the jaws i2 and M, and depresses the treadle E6 enough to close the jaws on the cover. He then, with a hand on each side of the shoe, grasp the shoe and inserts his index fingers between the wedge heel and the shoe bottom to flex the shoe bottom as shown in Fig. 3 and, while holding the shoe thus flexed, he depresses the treadle 66 to turn the heel cover down into the position shown in Fig. 4, removing his fingers from beneath the shoe bottom as the turning nears completion. He can, if desirable, assist the turning of the cover with his thumbs. Release of the treadle 66 permits the gripper jaws l2 and M to release their hold on the work and return to their initial positions.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine for turning the heel covers of shoes, a rest for supporting the tread surface of a wedge heel of a shoe having an unturned heel cover, a hook engageable with the thin forward edge of the wedge heel to hold the wedge heel against forces tending to tilt it heightwise during operation upon the shoe, a gripper for gripping the margin of the heel cover, at the heel end of the shoe, and means for operating the gripper to turn the heel cover while the wedge heel is thus held.

2. In a machine for turning the heel covers of shoes, a non-skid support for the tread surface of a wedge heel of a shoe having an unturned heel cover, a hook positioned toewardly of said support and engageable with the thin forward edge of the wedge heel to hold the wedge heel against forces tending to tilt it heightwise during operation upon the shoe, a gripper positioned heelwardly of said support and adjacent thereto, and means for closing the gripper on the marginal portion of the heel cover and then drawing the gripper down to turn the heel cover.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,224,196 Moyer May 1, 1917 1,289,635 Stewart Dec. 31, 1918 1,962,243 Howard June 12, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 207,925 Great Britain Dec. 13, 1923 

